Boat Builder Central - Builder Forums

I’ve been dreaming of building a boat for decades but could never justify it. I wanted to build one for an extended cruise that I did awhile back but was unable to convince myself that a hard dingy was a more practical choice for a tender than an inflatable. I’ve already got a tender for my little Catalina 22, a fold-a-boat which is not a good rowboat but is very light and stores easily. So, no reason to have another small boat.

And then one day I had an epiphany: I don’t need a reason.

I’ve been lurking on this forum for over a year and it’s been mighty entertaining. The mix of craftsmanship, artistry, and cleverness of you guys is inspiring and intimidating.

I’ve begun building a V10. It’s a very pretty boat and it’s the biggest one I think I can fit into my van. I’ve also got a very small workspace—10’X12’—and I built a mockup out of PVC to see if it would work. Things have gone smoothly so far until a day or two ago when I got anxious to start assembling the boat. It was a little more of a wrestling match than I had anticipated. I was trying to screw the frames in rather than just zip-tying them. OK, I have to bend this around here and hold it just so while I screw this in here and…boiiiing!!! Try again…Twang!!! So I gave up and will find a new approach. I’m in no hurry to get the project finished, since then I’ll have to row, which is a lot like exercise.

To keep it narrow so it would fit in the van doors, Jacques advised me to swap the rub rail for a sheer clamp or inwale, so I’ve notched the frames accordingly. I’ve also built the pieces in advance as he recommended, using the sides as a guide.

I got the frames in with little problem using zip ties. You'll see I've already rolled on some epoxy. I did this while everything was flat to avoid any chance of sag although I put it on thin. I left the edges clear to be wet out when I put on the tape, to achieve a better bond. This was probably unnecessary but it didn't take much time.

Loosely stitched together. This was pretty easy, as was everything so far.

Tightened up pretty close.

The dreaded bow knuckle. I'll get it sorted out with gk108's tip, or so I would like to believe.

Looks great Tony. That'll be a great little boat!!

Closing that bow was the hardest part of building my V12, which was my first boat. Stick with it. It will also help that you are patient.

Thanks, guys.
While sorting out the bow I'm contemplating another problem. I made the butt blocks 10" wide, which I thought I saw somewhere. Then Cracker Larry said they should only be 6". I don't think the dimensions are in the plans but I could have missed them. Anyway, I've now got a flat spot in the hull where the butt block is. The photo shows the worst spot, which is out of fair by about 1/8":


I've thought of three possibilities: 1) disassemble the boat and take a router to reduce the width of the blocks, then re-assemble. But while I imagine this will somewhat ameliorate the problem, I don't know how much. 2) Just goop it up and fair it out perhaps with a little glass to add bulk. I'm not pleased with that idea but the other alternative isn't that appealing either. 3) forget it.

Any thoughts?

So here's my bow solution. Frankenboat. It's pretty ugly for now and needs a bit of tweaking but brute force was what was required. I think someone else on the forum did this, which is where I got the idea.